Sophia left Michael’s mansion as if the world around her had gone blurry. She didn’t wait for him to call her name again; she didn’t wait for clarifications. She just marched to her car, opened the door with trembling hands, and sat inside with her heart thumping painfully. Her mind kept replaying what she saw—Clarissa leaning into Michael, Michael holding her as if she was suddenly the only person who understood him.She rested her forehead on the steering wheel.“No… no… no…” she whispered, shaking her head. “How did I even let this happen?”But the more she tried to calm herself, the sharper the scene became. She straightened, inhaled deeply, wiped her damp lashes, and drove off with a tight grip on the wheel.By the time she reached Donovan Industries, the building was dark. She walked through the silent lobby, ignoring the security man who greeted her, and went straight to her office. She switched on the lights and dropped her bag on the table.“Get a grip,” she muttered to h

Sophia stepped out of the elevator and turned toward the executive wing, her steps sharp and brisk. She didn’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary, not until she reached the corner leading to Michael’s office. The moment she glanced through the slightly open door, her breath hitched. Michael and Clarissa were standing side by side, leaning over a confidential file on his table. Their voices were low, their heads bent close, the conversation serious but comfortable — too comfortable for Sophia’s heart to handle.Michael pointed at the file. “No, check that part again… the numbers don’t align.”Clarissa leaned closer. “I already cross-checked. Daniel said the same thing, so I reviewed the trail twice. It’s definitely an internal error.”Sophia’s fingers tightened around the file in her hand. The scene flashed into memories she had buried for years — nights she and Michael worked late at Donovan Industries, sharing coffee, arguing about figures, laughing at their own exhaustion

Sophia moved quietly through the halls that morning, not her usual sharp, clipped version of quiet, but a softer, watchful silence. She carried her tablet but barely looked at it, her attention tuned entirely to Michael. Each time she crossed his path — in the executive lounge, near the elevator, during the morning brief, she noticed the same thing.He avoided Clarissa.Not rudely. Not coldly. Just… carefully.He offered polite nods where he once offered warmth. He kept conversations brief where he once lingered. He stepped back where he once leaned in. And instead of easing the jealousy twisting her stomach these past days, it only made her more confused.She had expected his distance from Clarissa to give her relief, maybe a little hope. But watching him shrink into himself unsettled her. Michael had never been a man who hid from his own emotions — he carried pain bluntly, carried duty like a shield. But this version of him looked like a man trying not to break in public.Sophi

Michael stood in his office long after Sophia left, the resignation letter still open in his hand. He neither moved nor blinked. The air felt heavier than usual, and the silence around him thickened until it became almost unbearable. For a long moment, he just stared at her signature — steady, bold, final. It hit him harder than he expected. Not because he wanted her to stay, but because it felt like one more thing slipping out of his control.A soft knock came at the door, but he didn’t answer. The secretary gently pushed it open.“Sir… the finance team is waiting. They’ve been asking—”“I’ll be there soon,” Michael said quietly, barely turning his head.She lingered a second. “Sir, the meeting started twenty minutes ago.”“Tell them to continue without me.”“Yes, sir.”She closed the door. Michael dragged a slow breath and finally lowered himself into his chair. He dropped the resignation letter on the table, but his eyes kept finding it. The envelope seemed louder than anything

The problems started before sunrise.By the time most employees were still dragging themselves out of bed, Donovan Industries was already on fire, not with flames, but with the kind of silent chaos that spreads fast when one small mistake slips into the wrong department. The misfiled procurement contract looked ordinary on the surface, just a few sheets of paper placed under the wrong code. But those few sheets carried approvals worth millions, tied into a project that had already been delayed twice.It was the kind of thing Sophia normally caught immediately, the kind she corrected almost lazily because she understood the company’s operational structure better than most people. But she wasn’t around in the morning… and the system felt her absence.Michael arrived at the office hoping for a quiet day, something steady, something controlled but the moment he stepped into the operations wing, he knew peace wasn’t in the agenda. Two managers stood in the corridor arguing over which f